First off, it's worth noting that I was never Thea's biggest fan. She always seemed to exist solely to fill the show's teenage angst quota, but in between the second and third seasons, she morphed into a highly intriguing character. I absolutely loved the flashbacks as Malcolm viciously taught her his warrior ways. Sure, you could say she became an adept fighter way too quickly, but it's such a welcome development that I absolutely can't wait to see more.



Willa Holland undeniably rose to the occasion, and I totally buy her as this confident and newly-formed badass. And yet, her decision to return home with Ollie after his heartfelt please still made sense, and that speaks volumes to how organic this transformation feels after all the horrors and secrets she endured over the past two seasons.


As for our future Black Canary, I'm seriously loving Laurel's journey into cutthroat vigilante. Obviously she's not going to become a warrior overnight, so it was thrilling (and harrowing) to see her try and exert her own brand of justice on an abusive boyfriend and receive a vicious beating in return. Unlike the past two seasons, the writers are exhibiting a formidable grasp on Laurel's character arc this year, and I have no doubt it's going to be quite compelling to watch her learn to control the "fire" she has raging inside. The fact that Oliver refused to train her is also a believable turn, in light of everything that happened with Sara. And now we've got the newly-introduced Ted Grant to take Laurel under his wing. I just hope he doesn't turn into the requisite love interest.



As for our other adventure in Corto Maltese, someone has ARGUS intel about operatives' wives and children. Shaw wasn't the most exciting character, but I enjoyed the storyline simple because it allowed the show to stage some top-notch action while broadening the budding ARGUS/Amanda Waller threat. And it's just too cool to watch Ollie kick ass with a firearm. More of that please!


And finally, I can't express how much I adored the blood-pumping ending with the epic return of  Nyssa Al Ghul. Katrina Law was a freakin' MVP in her introduction last season, and I absolutely can't wait to see more of her lethal badassery. Watching her come to terms with Sara's death and probably blame half of Team Arrow in the process is going to be downright exhilarating.